Mechanical closing device for injection molding machines



March 6, 1945.'

H. GAsTRow MECHANICAL CLOSING DEVICES FOR INJECTION MOLDING MACHINES Filed Feb. 24, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 mw; mm .J Mlm 4Va. a 6ft n L e,y E l l March 6, 194s.-

H. GAsTRow MECHANICAL CLOSINGDEVICES FOR INJECTION MOLDNG MACHINES Filed Feb. 24, 1939 '3 sheets-sheet 2 stm. um.

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` March 6, 1945.

MECHANICAL CLOSING DEVICES FORKINJECTION MOLDING MACHINES sures,

- tion. Y This motor serves force for the locking members may P. "ented Mar. 6, 1945 Aacuista MECHANICAL CLOSING DEVICE Fon l INJECTION Hans Gastrow, in the MOLDING MACHINES Zerbst in Anhalt, Germany; vested Alien Property Custodian Application February 24, 1939, Serial No. 258,329

In Germany March 11, 1938 6 Claims.

In injection metal or plastic masses, high preswhich may amount particularly in the case of plastic masses to over 1,000 atmospheres, occur Within the mold. By plastic masses is understood non-metallic plastics, such as, for example, synthetie resinous thermosetting materials and other non-metallic plastic thermosetting compositions. Consequently, when the injecting parts are of large supercial area, the mold, which generally is in two parts, is opened by forces which may amount to 100 tons or more. These forces must be taken up by the locking means, and the expansion of this locking means must be kept within very narrow limits.

A'mold closing device has two carriers, one for each half of the mold. Normally these slide tables for the molds, so far as they are mechanically driven, areopened, closed and locked by eccentrlcs, toggle levers or double toggle levers. For the purpose of locking, the movable slide table of the mold is pressed against the fixed slide table oi the mold by the toggle lever. bears against the frame of the injecting molding machine or against the rails or tie rods, which are connected with the xed slide table of the mold or have an abutment for the latter respectively. Due to the great' length of the yhitherto usual locking means, the moldv cannot be closed safely even by employing great locking forces, as in consequence of thegreat 'forces within the mold due to the injection procedure, the deformations of the locking pieces reach values whichK cause an undesirable separation of the halves of the mold from each other.

In accordance with the invention, the locking of the slide tablesof the mold is effected by mechanically drivenmeans in such a way that `the locking forces which -act against the forces'for opening` the mold are directly transmitted from,

one slide table of the mold to the'other. This arrangement enables vthe locking means to Abe kept short, with the result that expansion of the locking means is reduced to a negligible amount.

Screw bolts and nuts are employedfin accordance with the present invention, as locking means, by means Jof whichpressure-is`brought to bear upon both the slide tables of the mold, The drive engages the nuts. An electric driving motor is vdirectly attached the mold, in accordance with the'present invenboth for ,closing and opening i 'ther closing device' of the mold. The mountingiof the motor upon one ofthe slide tables to the movable Aslide table oiin the shortest wayto the said nuts. Moreover a shortening in thev length of the construction the machine is thereby achieved. The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of example one embodiment.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a section of the mold on the line I-I of Figure 2,

Figure 2 is a section on the lin'e 2-2 of Figure 1, c

Figure 3 shows a horizontal section on 3-3 of Figure 2 and Figure 4-shows a further embodiment of the invention given as an example.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged the line scale of one of the cooperating V `nut and screw The toggle lever bolts of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of one of the nuts; and

Fig. 'I is a longitudinal sectional view of a modified form of the molding machine.

As shown, only the two guide 'rails I of the casting machine are represented and also the machine bed 2 which serves as a guide surface for both the slide tables 3 and 4 of the molds. Also,

a part 5 of the bed 2 is illustrated in Figure 1,

which will be referred to later. The driving motor 6 of the closing device of the. molds is directly flanged on to the casting housing 1,' which again is screwed to the movable slide table 3 of-the molds. The motor shaft is connected within the y cast casing 1 through, a friction coupling 8 with atoothed wheel 9 mounted in the housing 1. The toothed wheel ilV engages This toothed wheel I0 is xed on to the hollow shaft II mounted in the axis of the closing Vdebe transmitted vice of the molds. A-toothedwheel I2 is mounted on this hollow shaft. Moreover a carrier I3 is rotatably mounted on this hollow shaft by the ball bearing (not shown). This carrier carries two stub shafts I4.

wheel I9. 'I'his wheel is rotatably mounted upon the shaft Il between the toothed wheels lll and I2. It possesses besidesthe-'teeth IB-'bevel teeth 20 which engage with a correspondingly toothed I .bevel wheel is attached to the axle 22,v which is rotatably mounted in the movable slide table of the mold. Upon the free through the locking device the toothed wheel I0.

l Rotatably mounted upon the' stub shaft Il are double toothedrwheels I5 with and I'I' differing in diameter v o1' the nuts.

The teeth Il of the double toothed wheels I U are engaged with an internally toothed wheel 26, which latter is rotatably mounted partly in a ange of the movable slide table 3 of the mold and partly on the periphery of the toothed wheel I9. v'I'he toothed wheel 26 has a smaller dianlm Aeter than the toothed rim It. Accordingly the number of the teeth is also smaller.

'I'he toothed wheel 26 is vprovided further with external teeth 31, which engage four externally toothed nuts 28 rotatably mounted in the movable l5 'slide table 3. of the molds through the ball bearing 29. The fl The nuts 28 bear against Ithe slide nuts 28 in association with the screw bolts 30( serve to lock the mold. The screw bolts are adjustably fixed in the slide table 4 of the mold, 20

and they are provided each at their front end with a. thread 3| which can be brought into engagement with a corresponding internal thread 32 ofthe nuts 28. The bolts fare attened over the entire length of the thread al, that is they have their threads interrupted by dat surfaces "extending over the whole length of the threads.

.The internal thread 32 of the nuts 28 has corresponding cut awayportions. These cut away portions when the nuts` 28 are in appropriate an- 30 gular position, enable the screw bolts 30 with their threads 3l to,be inserted in the nuts, in or-V der'to bring about later the engagement oi the threads 8l and ,32 upon corresponding rotation The operation of the device is as follows: If in the case of the open position of the device t `e motor 8 is switched on,'the toothed wheels 9 and Ill, the toothed wheel I2 and in consequence' double toothed wheels I5 are\driven .710 y through the adjustable friction coupling 8.

also the When the 'mold is open the nuts 28 are pre-LA vented from rotating by a locking device. `For this purpose one of the nuts 32 has a ange 33 with a notch 33', Fig. 5,-therein' engaged by` a 4.',

locking pawi 8l when the mold i`sin open posi tion. The locking pawl I4 can be 'moved out-of p engagement by a bell crank I5 mounted on a xed Vpivot a, when a cam surface 88 on an end of the bolt 30, Fig. 3. encounters thearm 31 of the -oo bell crank and rotates thee latter in clockwise direction, Fig. 5.

The locking of the nut 28 prevents rotation o1' the toothed wheel 28. The double toothed wheels I5 then roll upon the toothed wheel 28 and drive o5 simultaneously thewheel I8 and in consequence the bevel wheel 2|. By means of the crank gear 428, 24 the slide table ofthe' mld is then moved into the .closing position. 'The' half 88 of the mold connected with theslide'table of the v w mold bears against thelhalfjl or the moldc'one nected withthe Slide table I'. The Slide `liable I moved against an abutmentqll. As a result-of this movelilcl'lt 'the' bolts Il attached to the mold slide l penetrate into'the mold slide 3, and the b5 I. one er diese' :our bolts n which mathe cam 'u1- face 8l forces the lower arm 21 ot' thebellfcrank the locking paw! Il. out of the `notch whereby tliepreviqusly vlocken nut-2l rotate.. The

wheel ze may new rome, whilst the wheel le is held fast-as the rotation o! the scar 23, 28

nuts 28' takes shortly the termina.-

of the nuts may take place. ment may be obtained by spindleor toothedrack thickness 0f the i indlvidlll il au'pwardly.; This causes the bell crank' to move l the threads 3h32 of the screw bolts'and of the .nuts are distanced at a half pitch of the thread rfromgthe nal engaging position. movement terminates as soon "as both threads The closing may engage each other. From now" on a rotation The closing movevand pinion drive instead of illy crank gear.

'I'he locking is effected by rotation of the nuts 28 through which the screw bolts are stressed. With increasing stressing the required torque moment of the motor and thereby; rate of charge of the motor increases. I1 the current surpasses va. determined value, the motor is then switched off by a relay. It is also possible to adjust the friction coupling 8 in such a way that with a determined torque moment'thecouplingr of the v motor with the toothed wheel s is released.

When the injecting and cooling process is terminated. the motor isagaln switched on butin an opposite 'sense o f rotation. Inf" thisvconnection the pressure generated between the threads and the 'friction produced thereby is so great that theA wheel 28 is held fast. The double toothed wheels d then' again rotate the wheel la and thereby the crank gear 23, 24, that is to say both slidetables of the mold are moved first in the opening direction.' Upon a short movement in common, the slide table ofthe molds il abuts against the ixed stop All. If this stop istaken away the `slide table t of vthe mold `abuts against a secdnd stop only by travelling a greater distance, in order to remove the mold further from the -iniecting nozzle before opening. By means of the stop ad further rotation of the wheel it. is prevented. The motor then causes a rotation of the wheel 26 and in consequence a rotation ofthe f nuts 28. Forthe initial movement of the nuts a sunlcient torque momentof the motor 6 is already ava-ilable at" this momerltg which -is still 'assisted by the momentum of the motor arma-` 'ture of the toothed wheel and other parts.

As soon as the nuts 28 have rotated through an angle of theyare prevented `from furthermtation by an abutment, that is to say the wheel -28 comes to a standstill. A s the locking between both theslide tables of the mold -is released, .the wheel `IiLcan continue to rotate and move the half of the mold' 3 to' the`inner position. When this position is reached, the driving motor Y is switched oil' by an end contact.-

It has been already mentioned thatthe screw bolts zu are edlustalilynxed in the slide temes` l of the mold. Nuts llserve forthis'plu-pose which are-screwed upon the ends ofthe 'thread- 'l ed boltsi80. Lockmuts I2 ensure that .the ad-l justed position shall always-be maintained. This adjustable I ixing enables diil'erences in length o1' the vindividual screw bolts,to be compensated in order to obtains uniform'tightening q f the arrangement by a, plurality of locking bolts.

'Ifscrew bolts are'used as described for locking the halves'ot the nio1d,'the distance between both halves of. the mold] and I is xed. In orderto allow the balancing oLany differences in the' l parts 'of the mold, the half 88.01' the moldis 11x d upon=a wedgeshaped slide table G Ijwhich can be setv by a wedge u with the aid of a screw 4l.

The formation ofthe 'shaft- II4 as aihollow shaft has the advantage thaitn ejecting rod '48",

may be passed therethrough. Shortly'before the open position-is reached, this rod abuts against l I `an'alnllunent 41 w en isseeured te e. rim not vtion ofthe closingmo'vement approximately when 7l the housing part i; I: l

right. To

head 52, in the centre of which is mounted thel spindle 53.

This spindle serves instead of the crank drive 23, 24 for the movement of the rear slide table 3A of the mold and when the heating of the slide table of the mold is finished drives the piston in the injecting cylinder 54 through the intermediary of the tie rod I Finally, the drive from the motor 6 to the casting body I3a .in-which the double toothed wheels I5 are mounted in the case of this embodiment takes place directly from the bevel Wheel toothing 55. In Fig. 4 the motor 6 is connected to the gearing by .means of a bevel pinion keyed to the motor shaft and engaging with the bevel gear wheel 55 so as to drive it directly by the motor, the latter being indicated by the inside dotted line circle to which reference character 6 is applied to indicate the motor.

In order to be able to regulate the velocity of *the closing movement of the rear slide table 3 of the mold, and also the speed of the piston, a countershaft 56 is built in within the drive of the spindle 53 to provide at least two speeds.

'I'he motor 6, Fig. 7, which opens and closesA the mold is also employed in this construction to drive the spray piston 56. It drives a planetary gear casing I3a through bevel gears 51, 55, in which casing are mounted one or more satellite double pinions in such a manner that the teeth on one sidel of the double pinion engage a gear wheel on the shaft 59,.while the teeth on the other side of the double pinion enclose a gear on the shaft 60. The pitch circle diameters of the gear wheels on the shafts 59 and 6I! are slightly different in magnitude so that the casing IIa is driven with a differential action of high reduction ratio, that is when the motor 6 drives the casing I3a and the shaft 59 is held fast, the motor operates the shaft 60 with high reduction, that is at slow speed; on the contrary if theshaft 50 is held fast locking pawl 34 engaging the notch 33 of. the

flange 33, is pressed back as in the first construction according to Figs. 1, 2. 3, 5 and 6, is pressed against action of a spring 13. As long as the locking pawl is in the lnotch 33', the drive from the motor operates only as far as the .piston'so that the spraying operation takes place. Y

On the reverse rotation of the motor the tension rods press againstthe slide 6l and moves the piston out of the cylinder. The collapsible bolts 68 now permit a small movement of the heating cylinder slide 62 relative to the mold slide 64 which serves the purpose of bringing the nozzle point out of contact with the mold. After the piston has been retracted .a certain amount from the heating cylinder,v the nuts 66, threaded on the rods 5I and xed by locking nuts 61, press against the heating cylinder slide.

,tion of the locking nuts 30a.

The common further movement of the three slides 64, 65, 6I can take place only when the rigid locking between the bolts 30a and the other side of the mold is disengaged by left hand rota- The three slides 64, 65, 6I actuated bythe nuts 66 on the tension rods can be advanced in the direction of the openthe motor drives'the shaft 59 very slowly. The

shaft 59 operates the threaded spindle 53 through gears 56.

In one direction of rotation of the spindle 53 the member 52 is moved to the left, andin the other direction of rotation it is moved to the this traverse member 52 the piston slide 6I is connected by tensionv rods 5I so that the slidemoves to the left upon similar movement of the member 52. The slide 6I transmits the elort of the tension rods to the spray piston 50. The spray piston 50 presses upon the material in the compression cylinder 69. The extension of `the compression cylinder towards the mold constitutes a heating cylinder 54 which communicates through the spray nozzle with the mold proper As long as the nozzle is closed, or the piston encounters no resistance to its forward movement ing of the mold far enough from the xed member 3 of the mold, by means of the drive motor, to allow the spraving member to fall out ofthe mold 10, 1 I.

I claim:

l. An injection molding machine comprising a bed, two slide tables each having a mold part of which one table is mounted for relative movement on the bed towards and away from the.

other table, a power source, means operable by said power source for traversing said movable slide table along said bed to bring said mold parts into and out of engagement with each other, bolts anchored in one of said slide tables and having screw threads with interrupting ilat surfaces, nuts rotatably mounted in the other slide table and having corresponding interrupted threads enabling said bolts to slide insaid nuts when thethreaded parts of the bolts are aligned with the interruptions of the nutthreads, means for locking said nuts against rotation and in sliding relation with said bolts while the power source is actuating the movable slide table to bring the mold parts into engagement, means for releasing said locking means when said mold parts come into engagement, and means for then rotating the nuts from said power source to tighten the mold parts together.

2. A-machine according to claim 1, in which a single gear is provided driven by the power source, the nuts have gear teeth and are in mesh thereby with the single gear.

3. An injection molding machine comprising a bed, two slide tables-'each having a mold ,part of which one table is mounted for relative move- Ament on the bed towards and away from the and having screw threads with interrupting fiatI surfaces, nuts rotatably mounted -in the other table and having corresponding slide table and having corresponding interrupted threads enabling said bolts to slide in said nuts whenthe threaded parts of the bolts are aligned with the interruptions of the nut threads, means for locking said nuts against rotation and in sliding relation .with said bolts while the 'power c part and` the slide table. f

5. An injection molding machine comprising a bed, .two slide tables each having a mold part of which one table is mounted for relative movement on 4the bed towards and away from the other table, a power source, means operable by said power source for traversing said movable slide table along said bed to bring said mold parts into and out of engagement with each other, bolts anchored in one of said slide tables and having screw threads with interrupting at surfaces, nuts rotatably mounted rin the other slide interrupted threads enabling said bolts to slide in said nuts when the threaded parts of 'the bolts are aligned for locking said nuts against rotation and in sliding relation with said bolts while the power source is actuating the movable slide table vto bring the mold parts into engagement, means on one of said bolts for releasing said locking means when said mold parts come into engagement, and means for then rotating the nuts -from said ypower source to tighten the mold parts"`together. v

6,.; An injection molding machine comprising a bed, two slide tables each having a moldpart of which one table is mounted for relative movement on thefbed towards and away from the other table, a power source, a differential gear driven thereby, means operable by one element of said diierential gear for traversing said mova-ble slide table along said bed to bring said mold parts into and out ofl engagement with each other, bolts anchored in one of said slide tables and having screw threads with interrupting iiat surfaces, nuts rotatably mounted in the other'v slide table and having lcorresponding inter` rupted threads enablingsaid bolts to slide in said nuts when the threaded parts of the bolts are aligned with the interruptions of the nut threads, means for locking said nuts against rotation and in sliding relation with said boltswhile the power source is actuating the movable slide table to bring the mold parts into engagement, means -for releasing said locking means when said mold` parts come into engagement, means operable'by another element of said differential gear for rotating the nuts to tighten the mold parts to- .with the interruptions of the nut threads, means gether, an injecting piston (zo-operating with said mold parts, a slide on said bed carrying said in.

jecting piston, and means including rods connecting said piston slide with the power source said rods traversing internal bores of said bolts.

HANS GASTROW. v 

